Nut-lock.



PATENTED MAY 2, 1905.

E. S. HAWKINS.

NUT LOCK.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.11.1904.

g 2 igvewto c 35 3p GHQ mt: I

wi tmeoow iTED STATES Patented May 2, 1905.

EDWARD SIDNEY HAWVKINS, OF FRANKFORT, INDIANA.

NUT-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 788,718, dated May 2,1905.

Application filed August 11, 1904. Serial No. 220,328.

To (all whom it 'l'mty concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD SIDNEY HAW- KINs, residing at Frankfort, inthe county of Clinton and State of Indiana, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Nut- Locks, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description,such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to nut-locks, more specifically to that classwherein a piece of metal or other suitable substance is placed like awasher between a nut and a surface adjacent thereto against which thenut is ordinarily adapted to press. I

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a more simple andefiicient means for holding nuts in a fixed yet movable position suchthat under the conditions attendant upon daily wear and tear they willnot loosen, but will remain relatively fixed and yet will readily yieldto manual pressure, as when applied by means of a wrench.

Another object is to provide a resilient means for controlling the nutwhen in position adapted to prevent crystallization of metals caused bymetal jarring against metal or in the case of other materials to preventbreaking thereof by shocks or vibration.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed outhereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts, which will beexemplified in the devices hereinafter described and the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein are shown several of variouspossible embodiments of my invention, Figure 1 is a plan view of one ofthe above embodiments with a nut screwed on in position. Fig. 2 is aperspective of the same without the nut. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of aportion thereof, taken substantially on line w of Fig. 1. Fig. tis aperspective of an embodiment of a different configuration and providedwith a different type of securing means. Fig. 5 is a crosssection of aportion thereof, taken substantially on the line 1 51 of Fig. 4.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views.

One of the most serious obstacles heretofore met with has been the shortlife of nut-locks, with a consequent increase in cost of maintenancewhere they are used. This is overcome in my invention by means of theemployment of a washer of such character that it will not materiallyresist the movement of the nut when screwed on nor prevent the reversemovement in unscrewing and yet in the absence of manual pressure willhold it firmly.

Referring now to Fig. 3, 1 represents a nut of the usual form,preferably square, as shown; 2, a member having a smooth surface; 3, abolt upon which the nut 1 is mounted, and a a nut-lock interposedbetween member 1 and member 2, embodying some of the more im portantfeatures of my invention.

Fig. 1 is a plan in which the position of the nut l with reference tothe nut-lock at is clearly shown. 5 5 are spurs adapted to hold thewasher in a fixed position with reference to the surface of member 2, asappears in Fig. 3. 6 6 are lips separated by a notch 7, within whichcorners of the nut 1 are adapted to rest.

Fig. 2 is illustrative of the curvature of my invention in theembodiment preferred, showing the perforation 8, through which a bolt isadapted to pass.

The washer preferably consists of a rectangular piece of curved sheetmetal, as steel or any other resilient material, having a centralaperture for a bolt to pass through. It may be here noted that thewasher may have any convenient con figuration, although that shown andpreferred has been found especially adapted to accomplish the objects ofmy invention. On opposite sides of the aperture 8 lips 6 6, separated bya notch 7, are curved upward, whereas the spurs 5 5 are curved downward.

The manner of using the above-described embodiment of my invention is asfollows: When a nut is screw-threaded upon a bolt passing through theaperture 8, the washer 4 is pressed down to a greater or less degree,thus tending to cause the spurs 5 5 to engage the surface upon which itis imposed. As

the nut is threaded downward, the lips 6 6,

lying on either side of the notch 7, are likewise pressed downward, but,being resilient, spring back into normal position when the corners ofthe nut have passed by or are in position in the notch. It will beobserved that the mode of operation embodies the pawland-ratchet idea.It follows that there may be a plurality of lips of any desired numberand that instead of the corners of the nut above noted there may be aprojection or projections, the essential requirement being that thenotch or notches between the lips shall hold the nut by means ofprojections thereof resting therein. Inasmuch as the nut is held undertension there can be no rattling of parts held together and the nutcannot unloosen itself.

Fig. 4 is similar to Fig. 2, except that the washer is not curved, butflat, and has spurs 9 9, (more clearly shown in Fig. 5,) preferablyformed by slits 10 10 in the periphery of the perforation 8, formed bybending downward the portion between said slits.

When the embodiment of my invention as shown in Fig. 4 is used upon anysubstance, as wood, which is adapted to receive impressions, the spurs 99, as shown in Fig. 5, penetrate the surface, and thus hold the washerfixedly.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a means for locking nuts whichembodies all the advantages hereinbefore noted. It will also be apparentfrom the construction set forth that a great advantagelies in thecheapness of my device.

Vith reference to the terms notch, lips, and spurs it should be notedthat no precise forms are essential other than such as are required toattain the objects and advantages of my invention.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and manyapparently widely different embodiments of my invention could be madewithout departing from the scope thereof, I intend that all mattercontained in the above description and shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense. 1 desire it also to be understood that the language used in thefollowing claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specificfeatures of the invention herein described and all statements of thescope of the invention which as a matter of language might be said tofall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. A nut-lock comprising a resilient, perforated washer having a seriesof parallel slits in opposite sides thereof extending from the outeredge toward the perforation, the material of which the washer is formedbeing bent upwardly intermediate said slits in order to form adetent-notch and being bent downwardly outside said slits.

2. A nut-lock comprising a resilient, rectangular, perforated washerhaving three parallel slits at each end thereof extending from an edgetoward the perforation, the material of which the washer is formed beingbent upwardly intermediate said slits so as to form twoupwardly-extending lips having a slit between them on a linesubstantially central of the washer.

3. A nut-lock comprising a resilient, rectangular, perforated washerhaving three parallel slits at each end thereof extending from an edgetoward the perforation, the material of which the washer is formed beingbent upwardly intermediate said slits so as to form twoupwardlyextending lips having aslit between them on a line substantiallycentral of the washer, the material outside said slits being bentdownwardly to form downwardlyextending spring-spurs at the corners.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

EDWARD SIDNEY HAVKINS.

Witnesses:

GEO. H. BOND, HARLAN P. Runs.

